Lawyer, writer & author, medical education consultant, and enthusiastic self-taught maker.
ESP8266
Regular readers of this blog know we're enthusiastic users of the ESP8266. I've personally shown how to control a camera pan and tilt mechanism, make a temperature data-logger that logs straight to a Google Sheet, and even how to create a mailbox notifier that sends an
raspberry pi
I'm assuming most readers of this blog already know what a Magic Mirror is. There are any number of tutorials on the web explaining how to make them. Look here or here for tons of examples and instructions. I'd like to concentrate on a single aspect;
ESP8266
In recent months I’ve been using Cayenne for many of my IoT projects, allowing me to view sensors and controllers remotely. It’s a great platform, and very easy for the user with limited programming skills. Among many other things, Cayenne allows you to view logged data over time,
Raspberry-pi
What to do with a spare RasPi? This is the third project in the "Great Projects for a Spare Raspberry Pi" series. The first project, Flightradar24, a live worldwide flight tracker can be viewed here. The second project, "Searching for Aliens" is here. In these posts
Raspberry-pi
About to embark on a trek in South-East Asia, I really didn't want to take a laptop or tablet. The first is too heavy for the type of traveling I'd be doing. The second doesn't give me the USB connections I need. Added to
Raspberry-pi
A couple of weeks ago, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced a partnership with RealVNC in which the latter would offer a free VNC Connect account for Raspian Jessie users. What is VNC? Since September 2016, every version of Raspian has come with the built-in ability to remotely access and control
DS3231 Real Time Clock
My addiction to clocks started a few years back when I got it into my head that I wanted to build a mechanical timepiece. I spent months scouring Google for a clock kit and all I came up with were mass-produced electronic movements. That's until I found Dave
Raspberry-pi
This is the second project in my series Great Projects for your Spare Raspberry Pi - Serving a Community. The first project in the series, Contributing to the Global Network of Aviation Tracking - Flightrader24 - can be found here. Disclaimer As I always take care to note in my
raspberry pi
What to do with a spare RasPi? At the last count, I had eight Raspberry Pis at home. I bought my first one a few weeks after the little board was launched, and as the Pi advanced, I found myself buying each new version for "my next project"
blynk
A word of warning Before I begin, a word to this blog's regular readers. This post will likely be read by people with little background in electronic projects. I've written it for the novice to introduce him/her to the wonders of the Raspberry Pi, remote
Arduino
A couple of weeks ago I set up a new bench in my workshop. It was a great new space, but each time I wanted to flash an Arduino or ESP8266, I had to turn 180 degrees to get to my computer. I knew there must be a better way.
ESP8266
We all know how fidgety it is to flash the ESP: 3.3 volts only, smoothing capacitors, GND-GPIO 0, VCC to CH_PD. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a simple adapter? A quick look in ebay reveals that at least for the ESP-01 you can pick